What is America’s Presidential Medal of Freedom: Why the uproar over giving it to Soros, when and to whom can it be given?

US President Joe Biden and billionaire businessman George Soros. – Photo: primelook

Questions are being raised about this Presidential Medal of Honor given in America. Especially in those countries where George Soros’ name is often taken for interfering in internal matters. Here people have a question in their mind that what is this honor? What should be the qualification to get it in America? When, why and to whom can this honor be given and who takes the decision to give it and on what basis? Let’s know…

US President Joe Biden has awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor to billionaire businessman George Soros. There is a discussion about this all over the world. In America itself, many voices are being raised in favor and against giving this honor to Soros. The world’s richest man Elon Musk has also termed the decision to give this honor to George Soros as ridiculous. However, the leaders of the Democratic Party have praised George Soros for his contribution.

The interesting thing is that George Soros was not the only one among the celebrities who received the Presidential Medal of Honor this year. Apart from him, 19 people including Democratic Party leader and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (posthumously), Argentine football player Lionel Messi and actor Denzel Washington were given this honor. However, there has not been as much uproar about giving the Medal of Honor to any of them as there is talk about the name of George Soros.

This honor was received by George Soros’ son Alex Soros, who was present as his representative. According to the White House statement, Soros’ charity Open Society Foundation has worked for human rights, education and social justice in addition to strengthening democracy around the world.
In such a situation, questions are being asked about this Presidential Medal of Honor given in America. Especially in those countries where George Soros’ name is often taken for interfering in internal matters. Here people have a question in their mind that what is this honor? What should be the qualification to get it in America? When, why and to whom can this honor be given and who decides to give it and on what basis? Let’s know…

What is America’s Presidential Medal of Freedom?

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is America’s highest civilian honor. That is, it has the same status as ‘Bharat Ratna’ in America. This honor is given to public figures who contribute in the fields of politics, entertainment, sports, art, etc.

This honor was established in 1963 by the then President of America, John F. Kennedy. Earlier, the highest honour in America used to be the Medal of Freedom, which was established in 1945 by President Harry S. Truman to honour people involved in civil services.
This highest honour of America, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, also has two types. One is normal and the other is the Presidential Medal of Freedom given ‘with distinction’. It is also called the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction. Due to the addition of ‘distinction’ in this honour, its credibility also becomes more than normal.
According to the report of the US Congressional Research Service till November 2024, the Presidential Medal of Freedom has been awarded a total of 654 times from 1963 to 2024. It was awarded to 651 people and one group (the team of passengers of Mission Apollo-13 sent to the moon). Apart from this, two more people, Ellsworth Bunker and Colin Powell, have received this honour twice. However, the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction has been awarded only 55 times. That is, only 8 percent of the total honors given have been given as special honors.
Who can be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom?
This highest civilian honor of America is given to public figures who have contributed in the fields of politics, entertainment, sports, art, etc. However, in some cases, people associated with military services can also be given this honor. It is given to people who have made a particularly commendable contribution to the security and national interest of America.
Have done special work for the efforts of world peace.
Have contributed to cultural or other important public or private works.

How is the selection for the Presidential Medal of Freedom done, who gives it?
Usually, this highest civilian honor of America is given only to personalities who have made special contributions in their respective fields. In such a situation, the qualification of the people entitled to this honor is considered to be of a very high level. However, there is no official process for someone to be selected or nominated for this. According to Executive Order 11515 of March 13, 1970, the right to select any person for the Presidential Medal of Freedom lies with the President himself. That is, the President can receive nominations for these awards from anyone, but the right to select for the award can be exercised only by the President himself. On many occasions, the nomination proposal for the Presidential Medal of Freedom is also sent by American MPs.

On what basis is the selection done for the highest honour?

According to the Congressional Research Service, different governments have different viewpoints behind selecting celebrities for this honour. However, sometimes this viewpoint is also linked to political and personal interests. The decision of the Democratic President to give the Presidential Medal of Freedom to George Soros and Hillary Clinton this time is also an indication of this. In fact, George Soros has openly been a big donor to the Democratic Party. Not only this, he has also been a staunch critic of Donald Trump. On the other hand, Hillary Clinton herself was the Democratic Party’s candidate against Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

Not only this, Biden also honoured Republican leader and Mitt Romney’s father George Romney with the Presidential Medal of Freedom this year. George Romney has been the governor of the US state of Michigan. His son Mitt Romney, who is also a Republican, was the presidential candidate against Barack Obama in 2012. However, Romney is seen as a critic of Donald Trump since his growing hold on the Republican Party.

What is the controversy in America over the honor given to George Soros?

Tesla CEO and Donald Trump’s close aide Elon Musk has taken a dig at George Soros receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He shared a picture on the social media platform X. In this, Biden is seen giving the award to Darth Sidious, the evil character of the Star Wars film series, dressed in black. Pointing to this character, Musk said that perhaps Soros is looking very good because of the light.

At the same time, a clip of an interview given by him in November last year has surfaced. In this, he accused Soros of doing such things that destroy the fabric of society. He said, ‘George Soros fundamentally hates humanity. He is doing some such things, which are destroying the fabric of civilization. You know, getting such a DA elected, who will not do his work.’

On the other hand, Donald Trump’s son Trump Jr. has also posted about this on X. He posted a picture of a pizza delivery boy saving people from the fire and said that he should get the Presidential Medal of Freedom and not jokers like Soros.

America’s newly elected Vice President JD Vance also targeted Biden for giving honor to Soros and said that now he is waiting for him to give this honor to Count Dracula. Apart from this, Republican leader Nikki Haley targeted Biden and said that after reducing the sentence of murderers and pardoning his son, giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom to George Soros is another slap on America’s face. 16 days till the swearing-in is a very long time. What is he capable of doing next?